The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1916. MR. ASQUITH'S SPEECH

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2745, 13 April 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1916. MR. ASQUITH'S SPEECH

The British Prime Minister's repl; to" the recent speech of the Gerniai Imperial Chancellor is direct, digni fied and convincing. But the wa: is not going to be won by fim speeches, though Mr. Asquith acte< wisely in making use of the firs convenient opportunity for the pur pose of exposing the dishonesty o Hebr von Bethjiann-Hollweg's pre sentation of the German case, am the hollowness of his references t peace negotiations. At the begin aing of the struggle Mb. Asquiti 'iuclared that Britain would no >tieathe_ her sword until Prussia) nilifcarism had been destroyed. ' Ji •his determination he has nevo vavcred, and in his latest speech h igain affirms that the war will no nd until this aim has been full; ,chieved._ He Still resolutely decline o enter into any detailed discussioi if terms of settlement. All ho i jreparcd to say is this: that th Uhea will nnt conclude peace unti ne purposes for which theylook 113 li'ms have been accomplished. Ii his resolve the Allies are bound to ;ether by a solemn compact whicl ill the wiles of the enemy have fail ;d to weaken.- After tlie great sacri ices which they have-made the peopt if the British Empire would not fo; - moment tolerate any parleyinj vith the enemy until he has beei lecisively beaten in battle. Who .'centered into the war we fully mad ;p our minds that it was to be < ight. to a finish, and we have neve' ravcrcd in this deterniination. Th r oico of Mr. -Asquith is the voice 0: lie Empire, when he says that then an.be no peace until Prussian mili ■arisur has. received its- 'deathblow .n December last the German Chan ellor declared that "if our enemie iome to us with peace proposals pro )er to the dignity, and assuring th< ;afety of Germany, then we are al tfays ready to discuss them." Thi :an only mean, as Mu. Asquiti joints out, that we arc to "asuumi '" e _ attitude 'of . a defeatei lation to a victorious , adver ary." Britain and her Allie ian only answer -such an im judent suggestion on the battlefield no one can tell how long the wa vill lust, but we have the safcisfae 1011 of knowing that the more deci we our victory the more lastini vill bo the peace for which victor nil-prepare the way. The Gerraai Jhancellor-is endeavouring to maki lie neutral world believe that Ger aany is willing to open negotiation or a settlement, and that the Allie ire responsible for the continuatioi , " 1<! , war - theirs, he says, is tin Jlamc for continuing "the killing 0; nen, and the devastation of Eu 'pP«- ' But the world is well awar< ihat Prussian brutality and greec or power is the cause of the un Paralleled destruction of life ant iroperty which is now going on, an( •bat the only may to make'sure of i iftrable peace is to strip the mai :rom the German fist. . In the course of his speech, Mr isquith remarked that the Allies in : end to pave the way for thi ireation of a new international sys sm. which will secure' the right >£ a," civilised States, ant -hat they also aim at thi istablishment of the principL hat international problems shoulc )e handled by free hegotiatiori 01 qual terms between free peoples Joes he mean that this new and bet >er state of things will come inti >eing as a matter of course when thi mrse of Prussian militarism has beei 'emoved; or is he referring to 'somi mderstanding among the Allies re ;arding tho necessity of reconstruct ng the machinery of diplomacy witl be object of giving greater frecdon md_ openness to international nego rations ;an'd improving their ethica oundations'i In view of the move nent that has recently been startec n fitvour of certain reforms in con lection with the control of foreigr )ohcy it is reasonable to assumi hat Mr. Asquith is arguing tha •he first step in this direction rous' is the overthrow of Prussian mili 'arism—"a Government controllec iy a military caste I '—which make; ree negotiation between free people! 111 impossibility. Mr. Asquiti ouches on a very debatable questiot n a broad and general way. B< loes not go into details. He .cer •a 1 iily docs not endorse-the demanc vhich is being made' in certain quar ■ers for the democratic control o 'oreign affairs. Referring to' Mr Arthur Ponsonby's book on this sub eet, Professor Gilbert.l'Mubrai states that he is unable to see tha' icrpetual publicity, as such, is anj afe road to the keeping of peace hough he recognises that in foreigr oolicy, as in all'the rest of politics he 'will of the people must be su )rcme, and the' ultimate control musi ie with the citizens of the countrj .cting through Parliament." Pro essor Murray goes on to say: — Our foreign politics are not below tli iverage Htandard of the nation; I believ nyself that they Tiave been well abov t. I believe that, under the presen Foreign. Secretary, .our foreign policy ha icon conducted with as great care am prudence and with more than as great ligh-miudedness and resolnte honesty oi jurpose, as that of any nation in inod>rn history. But, if we are ever to riso .0 a foreign policy which shall be still ligher, jnore daring and idealist, more 'eady to run risks for great ends, and nore brilliant in meeting perils as. yet iir off and scarcely discernible, it will lot . bo by any mere democratisation of nachinery; it will only be by some enor. nous change of heart, in which tha nasses of the nation must take part ally as much as their ruler?. There is sound sense in this. Tho

tnsk of working out the details of

the new system of diplomacy will bo a difficult and delicate one. It is easy to talk about "free negotiation on equal terms between free peoples," but it will be _hard indeed to construct the machinery that will enable this great principle to be put into practice in the conduct of international business. • It is vain to ex-

pect that the dcmocratisation of foreign policy will necessarily result in the abolition of war, but thcro is a widespread desire for friendlier relations between the nations, and that some way should be found by which they would be able to apeak to one another in simpler, freer, and franker' language.